START LOCATION: Velvet Rocks Shelter
FINISH LOCATION: Trapper John Shelter
TODAY'S MILEAGE: 15.2
TRIP MILEAGE: 1,754.0
MILES TO GO: 425.1
Smoke and I were up chewing the fat until late last night, so we weren't up and at 'em like the morning before. We hit the trail around 9:45 after I went on a miserable 1.1 mile roundtrip walk for water. The day started out rough. I was a bit sore, tight and felt really sluggish. Within 20 minutes of leaving the shelter, I slipped and fell on a mossy rock. I barely got dirty. No dents, damages or knocking in the engine.
We had a rather uneventful morning winding our way through the woods, some pastures and swamps. Not a whole lot to see. We stopped at Mink Brook for some lunch and chatted with a bunch of Hanover based day-hikers. We also met a couple separate female thru-hikers. One was Veggie from Maryland and the other was Alpine from Australia. Veggie told me thy she'd been hiking a bunch with Research. Last time I saw him was Damascus if I'm not mistaken. Cool to hear he's still on the trail, as he never signs the registers.
Had a quick break at Moose Mountain Shelter. Didn't see any moose however. Actually, I didn't seen any moose poop at all today. We saw lots in Vermont over the last week. Anyway, Smoke and I pushed our way over Holts Ledges in soupy humidity. Smoke built up my ego a bit after my little tumble and had one of his own on this stretch. He's a nice guy like that. Our guidebook mentioned these ledges were a peregrine falcon rookery, but the only birds I saw were mosquitos. It was a relentless climb given our overall sluggishness today, but the vista was pretty cool.
Smoke and I are bedding down rather early tonight. We are hoping for a big 19 miler tomorrow under rainy skies and over some big climbs. Hopefully no more spills tomorrow.
-natedog
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